Tigers' Jeff Larish and Will Rhymes fast friends

DETROIT -- Jeff Larish has spent parts of the past two seasons with the Detroit Tigers, while Will Rhymes made his major-league debut Sunday. They are good friends and were roommates in Triple-A Toledo, so they were glad to be called up to the Tigers together.

Larish said he would do his best to pass along lessons he learned early in his career to Rhymes.

“I think the first couple times getting called up I tried to come up here and play to be perfect, play not to make a mistake,” Larish said. “You can’t play baseball that way. You’re going to make mistakes. You’re going to fail. It’s just about putting that in the past and moving on.”

Rhymes said he was out to dinner late Saturday with his mother, his twin brother and his girlfriend when he heard the news he would be joining the Tigers on Sunday. Rhymes said they knew what had happened instantly because of the big smile that was on his face after he got off the phone.